What You Can Re-use to Organize
Ever noticed the price for containers and jars to organize? Some of them can be very expensive. They look pretty but are pricey. Let’s face it, making a commitment to an expensive container can make the organizing process (for a lack of better words) not so enjoyable.
The process of organizing should be enjoyable, satisfying and uplifting. Here are some of the items I like to re-use to organize around our house. Most of them are items you’ve technically already paid for so do your best to pay attention and make sure you do not throw them out.
Empty Peanut Butter Jars
I love these jars! Although they are made of plastic (which is not so good for the environment) what I like the most about them is that they are transparent. Once the jar has been thoroughly cleaned, it can be used for almost anything. Since it contained peanut butter, which is very sticky and has a strong sent, you will want to clean it well. You would not want you food to suddenly smell and/or taste like peanut butter. (Although I wouldn’t mind if some veggies tasted like peanut butter cups… yummm…)
Here is how I clean that type of a container. I remove the wrapping paper around it and clean it with either Goo Gone (which you can buy at Dollorama) or Lemon essential oil to remove the glue on the plastic container. When the outside is all clean, I move on to the inside.
For the inside, I add a few drops of dish soap and fill it up with warm water and let it sit on the counter for a day. I repeat this process for a couple of days until the inside feels squeaky clean and that it no longer smells like peanut butter.
Once these containers are properly labelled, they look real pretty and clean in your cabinets. I kept the original lid colour on mine, but I could have painted the outside if I wanted to.
Protein Powder Canisters
Although these are usually not see-through, you can still benefit from them to get a simple and clean look. I used them in my Laundry room for my detergent pods and powder (pssst! click here for my laundry room organization blog post) I have also thought about using them in the garage because they seal well and would be great for nails, screws or even small tools.
Again, these can be painted to match any look you are into for your space. If you have a chance to personalize something, I say do it!
Other containers
Here are some other containers that I have recycled to use in our pantry. There’s a mayonnaise jar now being used as a cracker jar. With a screw-on lid, the crackers stay fresh longer. Much better than keeping them in a bag within a box in the pantry.
I’ve also used empty apple sauce as well as empty powder peanut butter jars for dried fruits and nuts.
Tissue Boxes/Ziploc bag boxes
These small boxes make for great organizing tools. Once they are empty, I usually cut the tops off. I can shorten the height if I need to as well. What’s nice about these is that, most of them have great graphics, designs or pictures on them which adds a fun pop of colour depending on where you choose to use them. If they are visible, you could always paint or cover them with anything you like to achieve the effect you want.
Most of mine are hidden in drawers so I’ve kept them with their “original” designs. Here’s how I use mine.
In a clothes drawer. These types of small boxes are great to divide different types of socks for instance (cotton, sporty, short, long, etc.) within a drawer. If they don’t fit perfectly, you can always cut the cardboard to your specifications.
I used many of these boxes in my kitchen drawers to organize clips, bags, etc. Other than the fact that you already have them on hand and don’t need to go out to the store and buy them, these boxes are convenient to figure out what layout you want in your drawer. It’s basically like playing tetris!
I also have these in my large utensils drawer. I like that I can play with their placement until I find the perfect way to organize my drawer. Once I feel like what I have works best, I can go and buy better quality containers (or just keep them). It gives me the flexibility of trying options out before committing to a $5 container that may or may not work.
Shoe boxes
These are sturdy boxes and great to use for clothes or larger items. You can use both the cover and the bottom to divide clothes types in your drawers. If your clothes are folded upright, you can use a box to keep them standing which makes it easier to see everything and also simpler to categorize different clothes types with boxes.
Bed cover or sheets bag
Most bed covers and bed sheets come in this giant cube-like plastic bag that most of the time has a zipper. Don’t throw these out, keep them. They are great for storing large blankets, pillows and pretty much anything really. Bonus: most of them have a handle which makes them effortless to travel or move even when filled with something heavy.
Empty Toilet Paper Rolls
These are great for crafts but also very practical to organize extension cords, USB cables, HDMI cables, etc. Once you’ve rolled your cord in the figure-eight style, you just slip your toilet paper roll over it and voilà! Since it’s made of cardboard, you can write on it to label the cables.
I’ve also recently use an empty toilet paper roll to wrap a paint mat that I had just cleaned. I didn’t have a rubber band handy so I used this instead. I honestly like it better than the rubber band because it easier to take off and put back on. The rolls can also be used to hold a rubber baking mat in your kitchen drawer.
Old Spice bottles
One of my coworkers brought a little bit of honey in an old empty spice jar one morning. I thought it was brilliant! What a great idea to re-use an old glass spice jar for that or for anything for that matter.
Old boxes
Lastly, but not least, you can use old boxes to create custom dividers for your clothes or even your food. I like putting dividers in my snack bins so that the bins can contain more than one type of snack without having everything mixed together.
I truly hope that this blog post has given you ideas as to what you can re-use and re-purpose in your home. Before you throw something out, try thinking outside the box and imagining what other purpose it could have that would make parts of your daily routine easier. I’d love for you to share some of your ideas with me in the comments below.
